A refrigerator gasket is currently produced by profile extrusion of a composition including a soft polyvinyl chloride (PVC) resin and additives such as a filler and a stabilizer. A defined length of a rubber magnet in the form of a strip is inserted into and thermally bonded to the gasket. The rubber magnet is made by extruding and magnetizing a mixture of rubber and ferrite.
Dioxins can be produced when polyvinyl chloride (PVC) resins are burned. Plasticizers are used to process polyvinyl chloride resins and act as environmental hormones. Particularly, plasticizers cause problems when used in resin products that are most likely to come in frequent contact with food. Many efforts have been made to replace PVC with new materials for the production of refrigerator gaskets and are described, for example, in Korean Patent Publication No. 2003-0042229 and Japanese Patent Publication No. 2000-017142.
However, resins other than polyvinyl chloride resins are difficult to apply to profile extrusion and lose elasticity over a long period. Other problems are insufficient durability and surface adhesion. These problems make it difficult to find new resins as substitutes for polyvinyl chloride resins in the field of refrigerator gaskets.